Wednesday, 18 November 2009

Why don't we have omelettes more often?

Each time we have omelettes we enjoy them so much we wonder why we don't eat them more often. They're nutritious. inexpensive and quick to prepare. Tonight we had cheese and mushroom omelette made with free-range eggs and accompanied by crispy french fries and a fresh side salad. There's only one small problem... it's not thick enough or tough enough to use as a sole to build up my left shoe to equalise my odd-length legs. NHS omelettes were just perfect for this or any other heavy duty task such as road resurfacing, re-roofing or for use as a damp-proof course. We did try to make a big, thick omelette but I think you need powdered eggs and wallpaper paste to do that.

10 comments:

I love omelettes, but not of the chef variety, I'm with Mrs XTM those look gorgeously golden brown and with melted cheese and ham mmmm. Might not pass the micheline star test, but beats nhs leather soles hands down xx

with decent, home cooking you should be running around in no time at all - you sound better today. Thanks for the recipe - might try it myself if I can get away from work for long enough - we are submerged in piggy vaccines at the moment.....

What you need is a Spanish tortilla, with potatoes and onions. Delia has a recipe here: http://tinyurl.com/55ffe.

These are solid and can be made as thick as you like - really! In Spain you can buy the potato and onion mix ready prepared (frozen), and double frying pans for turning the tortilla. I don't know if these things can be bought in the UK.

You can easily make a Spanish omelette from scratch. The thing to remember is not to let the potatoes crisp up, just let them cook in the oil, so oil should be hot at the beginning and then reduce to medium after about 3 minutes until potetoes are done. Whether you include onions with the potatoes is hot debate here, personal choice.

You leave potatoes in a colander to drain away all excess oil.

You don't need a double frying pan to turn it over. Once the omelette is set at the bottom (if you shake the pan a bit it should slide about)- take a china plate larger than your frying pan and turn it over firmly. Then slide back the omelette into the pan. If you do it over a bowl, any beginner's accidents can still be "reconstructed."

In the bars here you often see two medium-thick spanish omelettes used to "sandwich" a filling..anything from ham or bacon and cheese or tuna or roast peppers, etc.

Another variation is to add cooked spinach, or any other vegetable like stir-fried fresh garlic or green asparagus to the potato and egg mixture before cooking the omelette.

Notes from a hospital bed

Fractured freelance journalist now released from traction and walking again. Recuperating at home with good food and fine friends. Growing increasingly angry about the scandal of nutritional neglect in our hospitals.